Swedenborg on the Afterlife

What Happens after We Die?

Swedenborg describes creation as made up of two separate and yet coexisting “worlds”: the natural world and the spiritual world. The natural world includes everything you see around you—the grass, the sky, houses, other people, your own body, and so on. The spiritual world consists of the unseen realities that we do not fully encounter until after death: heaven, hell, and the world of spirits in between. The afterlife, he said, is a vast realm where our lives continue much as they did on earth. Read more about Swedenborg’s vision of the spiritual world.

Who was Emanuel Swedenborg?

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) was a Swedish scientist and nobleman who used his expertise in engineering and metallurgy to advance his country’s mining industry. Then, in his mid-fifties, his career was interrupted by a powerful spiritual awakening. What he experienced was so compelling that he risked his reputation to publish what he had seen. Learn more about Swedenborg.

On Video: Swedenborg and the Afterlife

Free E-Book Downloads

Heaven and Hell is Swedenborg’s most popular book and his fullest report of his experiences in the other world. In it he describes heaven, hell, and the world of spirits that lies between them, and he recounts in detail the passage from life to afterlife as well as what happens next.